Holiday Wars
by WiltheWizard
Summary: What if the Holiday worlds suddenly became a part of our own world? How would we react? The story evolved from there and my own overactive imagination ensured the characters evolved with it. Thus the characters in this story are not the characters in the movie. They are inspired by them but they are my own version of them. Thank you for checking the story out and I hope you enjoy!
1. Prologue

Prologue

The first signs started the year before the Arrival. Of course, the signs only became apparent in hindsight. The first phenomena began on the Valentine's Day of that year. Thousands of couples claimed to find their one true love that day. While not remarkable in itself, a vast majority of those couples around the world reported a small wound on their bodies. These wounds were found on the upper arm or lower back and appeared to have been made by a small dart or other similar projectile. However, no such implement was ever reported to have been found. The next mysterious occurrence was documented on Easter morning of that year. Parents discovered candy eggs had been scattered throughout houses worldwide. The eggs were determined to be safe to eat and children everywhere delighted in searching for the treats. Their parents however had no explanation for the egg's sudden appearance.

Time passed and the odd happenings of Easter faded from public memory. Then on Halloween, Trick-or-Treaters encountered hundreds of people in seemingly amazing costumes on the streets. These "performers" would scare the children (and quite a few of the adults) nearly out of their skin. Often they would hide in bushes or in rafters of porches and pop out unexpectedly. However, after the scare the "performers" would often laugh and offer candy to those they scared. One man reported that after one particularly good scare went to shake the "performer's" hand and he found himself gripping a cold tentacle, covered in thick slimy mucus. Another woman claimed to have seen a gargoyle break a wing after a jump from the roof above her. Another gargoyle ran to its aide, picking up the broken wing and holding it back in place. The woman watching heard a loud _crack_ and the wounded gargoyle ran off, seemingly whole once more. Finally, that Halloween a nurse working a hospital in Northern New York had been caring for a terminally ill patient. She knew the man did not have long to live and that he would not be having any family coming to visit him in his final hours. She had tray in her arms that held a bowl of warm soup for the patient when she entered the room. She saw what she later described as a young man seated beside the patient. His hair shone a stark white in the light and he clutched one of the patient's hands in his own. The woman jumped in shock and the tray she had been holding clattered to the floor, spilling soup all over the floor. The young man looked up at the noise. The nurse described his face as handsome, but she felt overcome by paralyzing terror. His eyes had no pupils or irises, only white. He smiled at the nurse and she claimed that looking at him was like observing two films overlaid on one another. The image of a skull grinned at her, the man's face appearing beneath it. Unable to move, the nurse simply stared as the young man laid the patient's hand down gently and stood. The small smile still flickered on his skull-face. Slowly, he bowed to her and as he righted himself, he disappeared. There was no sound, no warning, the young man was just gone. The nurse regained to ability to move and immediately rushed to the patient's side. She discovered that the man had passed on peacefully in his sleep. Having heard the crash of the tray and soup, other nurses soon rushed into the room. They found their coworker seated in a chair beside the dead man. She was unable to speak for several hours.

Sometime later, on Christmas morning of that year parents and children found presents under their trees that no one could account for. It was only one of two presents per household, but always the gifts would be an item on the child's Christmas list. In some cases children would find a gift, but along with it they discovered several lumps of black coal. Small piles of dung were found on the lawns and roofs of hundreds of houses. When analyzed, these were discovered to be reindeer droppings.

The Arrival happened the next year. January 2nd, people across the globe awoke to discover a shimmering golden light dancing in the sky. The effect was similar to the Northern and Southern lights seen at the poles, but this could be seen worldwide. At 12:26 that afternoon, the light grew in intensity until it was nearly blinding and then abruptly vanished.

Immediately, global sea levels rose. New York City was submerged under several feet of water along with many other coastal areas. Orbiting satellites confirmed that several large landmasses had appeared in the world's oceans. The largest lay in the center of the Atlantic Ocean, oriented slightly closer to North America. Another appeared in the Mediterranean and still others such as small islands off the coast of New England and Ireland. Images also confirmed the appearance of large structures in and around the North Pole.

After planes flying over the landmasses confirmed the presence of buildings and possible life forms, the first humans arrived on the shores of the new continent in the center of the Atlantic. A strike force of United States Army Rangers set foot on the soft sand with the intention of making peaceful contact. They hoped to figure out just what in the world had happened.

Unfortunately, the Rangers were unaware they had arrived in the Kingdom of Halloween. They stumbled into a clan of werewolves. Confused, both parties attempted to communicate. Unaccustomed to werewolf social interactions, the Rangers panicked. Seven werewolves and three Rangers lost their lives before the misunderstanding was resolved and many more were injured. Although peaceful negotiations were eventually achieved, this incident would mar any further interactions between Americans and the denizens of Halloween. Russian officials were the first to contact St. Nicholas of the Christmaslands that had appeared in the North Pole. Some suggest they bonded over a mutual love of the cold, but regardless the Russian Federation took the Christmaslands under its wing, providing support and friendship.

The Holidays were just as confused by their sudden appearance in the world as the Humans. They explained that each Holiday had previously lived in their own world, similar to our own, having access to Earth only on their own special day. Then one day the sky filled with golden light. The Holidays then found themselves and their entire countries transported to the planet Earth. This brought changes to their very physiology. The Holidays were no longer able to survive on Trick-or-Treat candy or cookies left by children and now needed to regularly consume food. Having no infrastructure in their homes devoted to food production, famine struck the Holiday countries in the months following their arrival. Halloweentown (the continent was much more than a town, but a decades old children's movie ensured the name stuck) suffered greatly from hunger, having a very large population but nothing besides candy to sustain it. American forces airlifted hundreds of tons of food in the continent, asking nothing in return. Their efforts help immensely to ease the tension that remained between the two countries after their first encounter.

The memory of that encounter was still fresh in the mind of the Pumpkin King, who despite the name was a democratically elected official. The King requested the assistance of his newly found allies in modernizing his country and arming it for defense. The Americans were more than happy to help. After a brutal attempt to colonize Valentine Island that led to bloodshed on both sides, many other Holidays soon followed Halloweentown's example. After the first chaotic year, the Holidays began to return to their duties and adjust to their new home. The Dragons of New Year's Archipelago cultivated a booming tourist industry, the Cupids founded the best archery school in the world and Halloweentown became known globally as having a thriving nightlife. Each Holiday country was admitted into the United Nations and send delegates to all meetings.

The first cases of humans settling on Holiday land and vise versa occurred four years after the Arrival. Although met with opposition on both sides, humans protesting the arrival of the "Spooks" and Holidays complaining about the "Mundanes" on their land, the first primarily human town was established in Halloweentown later that year. The first human-Holiday marriage occurred two years after that. An English man married an elf he had met during his vacation to Christmasland. However, as each Holiday settled into its own political position tensions returned.

Halloweentown and Christmasland, the two largest Holidays begrudgingly accepted one another's presence at UN meetings. The people of the two nations viewed one another poorly. The Ghouls of Halloweentown viewed the Christmas folk as traitors. They believed them to have gotten far too friendly with their Russian neighbors, to the point where their own Holiday identity was compromised. The Elves of Christmasland however, view the Ghouls as hardheaded conservatives who were unable to accept the changes necessary to survive in the new world.

The tensions finally came to a head nine years after the Arrival. While on his way to meet with the Russian President, St. Nicholas (also known as Santa Claus) was shot three times by a high powered rifle as he stepped out of his home in the North Pole. He was rushed to the nearest hospital, but it was too late. Santa Claus was pronounced dead on arrival. His daughter, Carol Claus became head of state at the time of his death and immediately accused Halloweentown of the assassination. The Pumpkin King denied all involvement.

Both holidays called upon their allies to back up their claim. The United States and the majority of Europe supported Halloweentown while the Russian Federation and China backed Christmasland.

The world soon found itself in the midst of the Second Cold War. Neither side was willing to back down nor was willing to fire the first shot…..


	2. Chapter 1

Part 1

The military base situated along the coast of Baffin Island, Canada was only about 30 miles from the Christmasland border. The base itself was small, consisting of only a few hastily built structures and a landing strip for aircraft. Currently, a raging snowstorm restricted visibility to barely a few feet in front of one's face. The buildings swayed ominously under the wind's constant buffering. Four cold, unhappy men waited inside the meeting room of the largest building. The youngest of them a spry twenty-nine each man bore the scars of battle, physical and mental. Every one of them wore his green beret with pride.

"So what do you think the mission is this time, Captain?" Staff Sergeant Regis asked. The young medic's face had a thin covering of brown stubble. The facial hair was out of regulation, but there hadn't been time for him to shave that morning.

The man he was addressing turned. The eldest in the room, Captain Leon was not a handsome man. The right side of his face had been mangled by an explosion and the burn scars dominated his features. He shrugged. "No idea, Regis. All they told me is that we were needed up in this frozen hellhole."

"We've got to be heading up to pay the elves a visit, right?" Sergeant Halford chimed in. The man had the build of a football player, broad shoulders and a barrel chest. In battle he hefted his machine gun with just as much agility as his carbine-wielding comrades. Halford grinned. "Maybe we'll finally get to see some action. I'm sick of all this politicking and waiting around."

"Well you're going to be waiting a bit longer Halford, so can it." Leon replied. "The CO'll be along soon to brief us. So just hold tight." As if on cue, the door to the room opened. The hard-faced man who entered wore three stitched silver stars on his uniform. A manila folder was clutched tightly in his hand. The four men rose to their feet.

"General." Leon nodded to his commander.

Lieutenant General Campbell returned the nod. "As you were." The soldiers seated themselves facing the General. "As per usual, what I am about to say is not leave this room." Campbell paused and the soldiers nodded their understanding. "Sixteen hours ago an experimental aircraft, codenamed "Vampire" took off from this installation. The aircraft had been created through a joint American-Ghoul effort to develop a counter to the Christmas "Sleigh" gunships. It was manned by a crew of three Americans and two Ghouls."

"So what went wrong?" Halford asked, earning himself a glare from Leon for interrupting.

"I was getting to that, Sergeant." The General replied, scathingly. From within the folder he as holding he produced a photograph. This he handed to Leon.

The document showed a satellite view of a frozen white landscape. A red x was marked in the upper left corner of the map. Around the mark, a large circle had been drawn encompassing an area of at least three miles across.

"About an hour into the test flight, the pilots reported high winds and unusual amounts of turbulence." The General continued. "After that, something appears to have damaged their radio equipment. From then on we only received small snatches of transmissions. All we could gain from their last contact were the words 'enemy' and 'mayday'." A tense hush fell on the soldiers. "The x on the map marks the location of their last transmission. It is deep within Christmas territory. It is unknown what drove the aircraft so far off course, but we must assume that the aircraft has been grounded. The circle designates the possible areas for a crash zone. We must accept the likely possibility that the aircraft has been shot down by enemy forces. That is why we're bringing you in." He paused to regard the four men seated before him. Each man sat a little straighter in his chair. "You're the best of the best. We need you to locate the crash site and recover any survivors. Any remains of the Vampire aircraft must be destroyed. Christmasland cannot be allowed to examine it. Is that understood?"

"Crystal, General." Leon responded. His soldiers nodded their agreement.

The structure around them rattled and shook as the drone of an aircraft passed overhead. The soldiers surged to their feet, their hands reaching for a weapon. They cursed to themselves when their fingers closed on empty air. Only the General remained composed.

"What the hell was that?" Halford growled. "Nothing should be able to fly in this storm."

The General allowed himself a smirk. "Calm yourselves. That was just our guests arriving." The soldiers exchanged a confused glance and turned to their Captain. Leon shrugged and returned to his seat. The others followed suit.

"You never mentioned any guests, sir." Regis glanced uneasily toward the door. The drone of the aircraft has ceased, now they could only hear the howl of the wind outside.

"We weren't sure they were going to make it on time." General Campbell removed two more pages from his manila folder. "Since Ghouls were a part of the missing aircraft crew, Halloweentown has sent two operatives to assist you in the mission."

"We're working with Spooks?" Sergeant Corvin spoke up for the first time in the meeting. The man's dark eyes seemed to have permanent bags underneath them. His comrades reportedly had never actually seen him fall asleep.

"Yes and I suggest you refrain from using that word in their presence, Sergeant." General Campbell bristled. "The two are the best Halloweentown has to offer. I suggest you show them some respect. Here are their files, Captain."

Leon took the two sheets from him. Glancing at them, he found the majority of the information covered in thick black ink. The first detailed a "Corporal Patrick Finklestein". Although the only other information list was his age and race. Twenty-seven and "Ragdoll", respectively. The second sheet was nearly a block of solid black ink. The only information Leon could glean from it was the operative's rank of Colonel and his age listed as "N/A".

"Let me see, Captain." Regis reached for the papers.

"Not much to see." Leon hand the papers over.

Regis flipped through them and shook his head. "Even after all these years, the Ghouls still don't trust us." He said with a smirk.

"They don't have to trust us, just work with us." Leon replied.

The door opened then, sending a blast of cold air into the room. The soldiers stood to greet their Ghoul counterparts. The two were humanoid, for which Leon was thankful. The last time he'd worked with gargoyles, it hadn't ended well. The first Ghoul stepped forward and extended his hand. Leon took it into his own. The man's bright green eyes seemed to glow faintly with an inner light. His pale blue skin was held together by a series of stitches that crisscrossed over his face.

"Captain Leon, I presume?" His voice contained the distinctive sound of Halloweentown English. It reminded the Americans of an Irish accent, but not quite. "Corporal Patrick Finklestein reporting. You may call me Patch."

Leon nodded. "Welcome aboard, Corporal."

Patch blinked. "Captain, may I have my hand back?" He held up his arm which now ended in a stump, several frayed threads trailing off it.

Leon glanced down to find the Corporal's blue hand still in his own. The fingers twitched and flailed. Leon let go as if he had been burned and the hand fell to the floor. Laughter rippled through the other soldiers.

Patch chuckled and bent to retrieve his limb. "Sorry, Captain. I couldn't resist." He placed the hand back on his stump and the threads began to move. They wove themselves in and out of the skin, until the hand had been firmly reattached.

Leon watched uneasily. "Right, very funny." He grumbled. The Captain turned to regard the Ghoul standing behind Patch.

This man still wore full battle regalia, a black hood drawn up around his head. As he turned to face Leon, the Captain felt a chill run down his spine. The man's face was covered by a metal mask consisting of several interlocking white plates. His eyes were concealed behind two black spheres. It gave Leon the impression he was staring at the skull of some demonic beast.

Leon took a moment to compose himself. "You must be the Colonel."

The man nodded once. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Captain." His voice echoed oddly from beneath his mask. He was a bit shorter than Leon, but the Captain still felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Are you going to tell us your name, Colonel?" Halford asked, giving the man an odd look.

At first he did not respond. "My callsign is Reaper. That is all you need to know."

"What the hell is this?" Corvin growled. "General, we do not need any help from these Spooks!" Patch raised an eyebrow at the term. "The bastard won't even tell us his name! I say send them back where they came from. We don't want them."

"Sergeant. You will control yourself." Leon's tone made it an order. Corvin glared at him, but said no more.

"I understand your concerns, Sergeant Corvin." General Campbell gestured to Patch and Reaper. "But both these fine soldiers have extensive experience conducting operations in Christmasland. You will find their assistance extremely useful. And you will show them the respect they deserve. Understood?"

Corvin nodded and averted his eyes. "Yes, sir."

Campbell narrowed his eyes. "Good. Your unit will operate under the callsign 'Sally'. You are to report to the plane on runway Bravo-2 in thirty minutes."

The Americans snapped to attention. "Understood sir!" They said in unison. Patch and Reaper exchanged a look.

"Godspeed, men." Campbell smiled faintly. "Bring those soldiers back safely. They're counting on you. Move out!"


End file.
